Types of Anxiety

Did you know there was different types of Anxiety?

It’s important to remember that if you think you are experiencing anxiety, you should seek out professional help.

The six most common types of anxiety

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (also known as GAD)

People with GAD tend to feel worried/anxious for most of the time and not just in specific stressful situations. These worries interrupt their day to day lives because majority of the time, these worries will relate to every aspect of their life such as health, family/friends, financial problems and/or work related problems. Certain activities that are considered chores to a person without anxiety, will feel like a larger problem to someone experiencing GAD. From my own experience, just getting out of bed, making breakfast or doing laundry (for a few examples) can become the focus of a panic attack. People with GAD will generally experience worries that are irrelevant and uncontrollable.

Social Phobia (also known as Social Anxiety Disorder)

For many people who have Social Phobia, attending functions, bars, or possibly even work becomes the focus of anxiety. From my own experience, extreme anxiety from social situations is a regular occurrence. I usually fear being criticised and judged which triggers an emotional response such as hyperventilating and constant crying (also known as a panic attack).

Specific Phobias

People with specific phobias may react negatively to objects, situations and/or people. They will usually have overly exaggerated reactions to the threat they are faced with, such as extreme perspiration, hyperventilation, overwhelming physical sensations, nausea or hot and cold flushes. Sometimes just a thought of the threat can create a reaction.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (also known as OCD)

For someone with OCD, obsessions and compulsions, or both, are usually involved. For example, if you think you’ve left a light on after you’ve worked out of a room, you would go back and check. For someone with OCD, they might have to go back, check and flick the switch multiple times just to be certain. People with OCD may experience extreme shame and try to hide it, which can also cause the OCD to become worse and delay diagnosis/treatment.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD)

PTSD is common in people who have experienced a traumatic event such as war, physical or sexual assault, car/truck/motorcycle accidents, torture or natural disasters such as floods or fires. Because of this, they will usually feel an intense horror, fear or feeling of being helpless.

Panic Disorder

This one was particularly interesting for me to research as I didn’t even know panic disorder was an actual thing but now that I do know, I’m almost certain that I have it.

People who experience Panic Disorder have reoccurring panic attacks. They usually have an intense worry that the panic attack may happen again(been there) at least a month after it actually happened, as well as worry about the consequences of a panic attack (for example, thinking their may be an undiagnosed health problem because of reoccurring panic attacks) and they will usually have significant changes in their behaviour (such as avoiding places that may trigger their panic). These panic attacks can usually last up to half an hour and leave the person experiencing them extremely tired and/or exhausted.

Thank you for this concise summary! Your synopsis helps those who are experiencing these symptoms a starting point to better understand their journey. With over 7 billion people on Earth, no one should ever feel alone. I am not one for labeling, however, naming a set of conditions provides a treatment for it – a way to cope with what we are going through. Giving your experience a name sheds light on something that might feel very dark for the person undergoing the experience. Thank you for sharing this helpful information! E

I love that you’re writing so openly about this. I suffer from anxiety (I may be a combo of some of these) and I’m only now starting to feel comfortable talking and writing about it. Your blog is inspiring me to be braver about it. And this was so informative, thank you!

This post makes me feel validated. I have both GAD, social phobia and some specific phobias. It sounds like a lot and it can be hard to explain to others. I appreciate you spreading awareness through your blog posts.